Repudiated

Reeeeeeeeejected from UCLA but I'm not trippin', I'm not a Bruins fan. ;)

Dear UC Berkeley, USC, and NYU,

HURRY. Kay thanks.

Love, Nikki

Emitted

At approximately 12:12 this morning, I ever so anxiously submitted my NYU application. Now, I wait. Wait, wait, wait til June or later. The anticipation will kill me but at least my part is over. It's up to NYU to realize that I am indeed a worthy candidate for admission. I feel confident in my application but there's still a part of me that feels nervous. A lot of people are waiting to see if I make it or not and to let them down would be the ultimate fail.

Time will tell.

Goodnight. :)

Ajudication

I SUCK at updating, don't judge me!

Let's see what my life has been like...

So since I've last updated, I began my fourth and final semester at Moorpark and am now well into the middle of it. I am currently on spring break and when I return next week, I have just 5 weeks left. It's going really well! My classes are awesome, professors are great, and I am just happy to be able to call this my last semester here. I've been getting applications done and have begun to hear back from some schools. I've been accepted to St. John's, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, and UC Santa Cruz. I am still waiting to hear back from USC, UCLA, UC Davis, and UC Berkeley. Right this second, I am working on my NYU application. Yes, I know it's due in two days but I didn't want to send it in just yet. It's a big deal for me so I saved it for the last minute. I sent in all the supplemental information, the only thing left is the actual application. Everything is done but I just want to perfect all of my essays so that they truly reflect my deepest qualities and intentions. I really do hope NYU works in my favor. I am honestly surprised I was accepted to these other schools; I really thought I would be accepted to maybe a couple. That gives me a huge ego boost and a new wave of confidence. NYU seems really possible now but it's just so damn competitive so I don't know. I'm trying to not be so negative but I can't help but think like that. Whatever happens happens, though, and whatever the case, I am looking at it with fate. If I am accepted, it was meant to be. If not, then maybe New York is something that will have to wait in my life. Even if it doesn't work out, I have been accepted to some great schools so far so I am not worried about that. NYU will always be there for something else.

I know this sounds ridiculously opposite of how I was in my last couple posts, but I have begun to think more realistically about it. New York is a big move and it's going to affect both me and my family. It's going to be a tough journey to take and maybe I'm just not ready for it yet. Ahhh, these epiphanies are so confusing sometimes! I'm not saying I don't want to go. Basically, if I am accepted, then I am 100% in it, but if I am not, I won't be too bummed. Make sense? It sure doesn't for me. :)

All confusion aside, my birthday is next week, YAY! Big 2-0, can't believe it. My last days of teenagedom are here, oh my! But I am one step closer to that golden age so it's all good, hahaha. It sucks, though, because my birthday is on the Monday I come back from break and I have like, 2 tests that day. Major bust but it's okay because the next day, I am going to see Alicia Keys, Robin Thicke, and Melanie Fiona live in concert at the Staples Center. THANK YOU, SUBIR! It's going to be super fun. Ameeta keeps saying, "ohhh I can't come back to LA then like I had planned, lalala" but I know her better, I know she is planning something. I honestly think she is only coming to go to the concert. Subir got me two tickets for Christmas and I had to pick one other person to go with me. I of course chose Smee because she's my sister and lives here but Ameeta will probably end up wanting to go if she does come. Selfish, I know, but hey, what can you do?

Alright, it's 1:45 and I MUST finish these NYU essays. Take care!

A New Era

So here we are, 2010. A new year, a new decade, a new slate to cover with memories and happenings. I intend to make this decade the best one I've lived thus far.

:)

In The Cards

New York.
Concrete jungle where dreams are made of,
There's nothing you can’t do,
Now you're in New York.
These streets will make you feel brand new,
the lights will inspire you,
Let's hear it for New York,
New York,
New York.

Nikki's dreams, coming soon. :D

Galvanized

Recently, I've come across many instances where I find myself sighing with inspiration and driven even more to accomplish my goals. Today, I had the liberty of hearing and meeting Steve Lopez, an LA Times columnist and the author of The Soloist. He told us this wonderful story of how he helped a musician get his life back on track and live his passion. I was inspired by this story in more ways than one. It has always been a goal of mine to help someone dramatically as Steve has done for Nathaniel Anthony Ayers. He took this man in his worst state and essentially gave him his life back. While not exactly as it was prior to his breakdown, he helped him live his passions again. I would LOVE to help someone in that way. This is partly why I am a sociology major; I want to understand society in and out and learn how I can do my part to help a person in need. The story Steve told really reignited my interest to get out there and do what I can. I also was inspired by Nathaniel's passion for music. It was breathtaking to hear the joy he had when he was able to play his music again. I want to have a passion like that. A passion so overwhelming that I will do whatever just to live it again as Nathaniel did. I think sociology is my passion. Prior to choosing this is my main focus, I was up and down about what I wanted to do. I jumped from one topic to the next and finally, I took a sociology course and literally fell in love. This topic interested me in so many unfathomable ways, I decided it needed to be my major. I thank Steve Lopez and Nathaniel Ayers for making me realize my purpose in life once again.

A couple weeks ago, in my Social Problems class, we had a guest speaker come from the Midnight Mission organization talk to us about the condition of homelessness. Orlando Ward, a man who underwent the condition himself and rose above, came to talk to us about his organization, their purpose, and what they stand for. He told us of the times when he was homeless and the things he endured while under this condition. He explained the messes he got into, the help he refused, and the turn around he made to be where he is today. I was deeply touched by his stories and this also made me want to fix the issues presented in the world. Midnight Mission is an organization which helps the homeless in and around LA, right where Nathaniel Ayers was living. The fact that these two correlate give me the chills. Call me crazy but I see this as a sign to pursue my career in sociology and eventually help the world as I have been so desperately wanting to do. I sent in an application to volunteer and I will begin doing this as soon as I have my schedule figured out. Bless the world for providing me with amazing opportunity.

Tomorrow I have an appointment with Mike Johnson to talk about the last of my requirements to transfer to NYU. My applications for colleges are due in the span of November to March. I have been lagging and I really need to start writing personal statements and filling out applications. I am actually excited for this process; I have a good feeling things will go my way this time. I know exactly what to write for my personal statements but I just don't know how to go about doing this. I'm going to crack down this weekend and start.

On Friday, I have a job interview for Forever 21. I need money, hahaha. If that goes well and I am hired, I need to work my schedule out so I can volunteer with Midnight Mission, work, go to school, and still have somewhat of a life. It's a lot to take on, but if it helps me get into college, especially NYU, then I am more than for it.

I also need to start getting letters of recommendation coming. The thing with this is, my professors like people who participate and are actively involved in class discussions. I prefer to listen and take in what everyone else says rather than speak aloud all the time and this probably won't work in my favor. I know my professors would prefer me to be more vocal with my opinion and I really need to work on this. Weekend project, part II.

I have a big future coming up and I pray things work out for me. If they do, I am one step closer to helping the world in the best way I know how.

End.

Thaumaturgic

Last night was legiiiiit.

Let's recap:

The Dodgers game was so amazing. I went through hell times twelve to get tickets, though. Calling, e-mailing, setting up a hundred thousand accounts, being rejected twice, blah blah blah but I finally found a woman who was selling two great seats for cheap so I jumped on it. After a bit of a fiasco, the payment goes through and she e-mails me the tickets but SURPRISE, the images don't show up and they're virtually useless. So she suggests leaving the tickets at will call. We left Moorpark at like 5:45 and it was traffic galore on the way. We didn't get to the stadium til around 7:45ish (two bloody hours for a 40 minute drive). We park and now have to look for will call. After many staircases later, we find the will call and go up to the counter, hand her our IDs, and she says, "there are no tickets here under your name." Yeah, by this point we were in fury. We called up the chick and she didn't answer for a good twenty minutes. FINALLY, she called us back and was like, "I swear I left them there, I don't know what happened. I will meet you at will call and figure this out." So we wait. Then she sends me a text saying, "your tickets were fixed, please go to will call and get them." We stood right there the whole time and never even saw her face. Very incognito, hahaha. Anyways, we got our tickets and headed up. The moment I saw the stadium, my heart jumped. It was so incredibly amazing, so surreal. The crowd, the energy, the waves of blue and white, it was fantastic to be there. We went down to our seats and got situated only to have two guys come up to us and say, "these are our seats." We almost died. We went to the wrong section, hahaha. We got to our REAL and FINAL seats just one section over and were home free then. The game was pretty good, even though they lost. We did the typical ballgame thing and got Dodger dogs. They were so delicious. The crowd was throwing beach balls around and Carmen and I caught one, wrote our MySpace urls and phone numbers on there and threw it back, only in my attempt to throw it back, I hit a kid in his face hahaha. Second try was more successful and now I can say my personal information is now circulating Los Angeles. JOY. The game just kind of ended after Ethier bat and everyone jammed out quickly to avoid traffic. They did a fireworks show so Carmen and I stayed and watched it. It was so cute. Then we walked around a bit, went to the merch store and bought balls and bats and headed out. Since there was so much traffic getting there and getting back, we took to music for entertainment and dubbed my car as "Club A4" (because we have nothing better to do). Going home, I ended up taking the wrong freeway (of course) so we exited, landed in downtown somewhere and turned around. On the 110 North going to the 5, the carpool lane has these epically adorable lights that illuminate the lane. We thought it was the best thing ever until it distracted me and I almost hit a post on the curvy bend from the 110 to the 5. We decided that was a lawsuit in progress. We went to Del Taco on our way home and Carmen and I had a LEGIT freestyle sesh in my car. It was so weird! We didn't even know we could do that, hahaha.

Yeah, I know this is long but I wrote it so I could remember the vast details of my night as they happened. Thanks for reading. :)